New Worlds brings together ? for the first time in Philippine history! ? fans from all the major science fiction and fantasy genres into one giant convention. Organized by Via Astris, the country?s Star TrekTM Club, and supported by the leading clubs for Star WarsTM, Harry PotterTM, Buffy the Vampire SlayerTM, The X-FilesTM, Lord of the RingsTM, and a host of other similar organizations. New Worlds will be the biggest focused-demographic gathering of its kind ever.

New Worlds will be on March 12, 2003, 3 pm to midnight, at the Premiere THX Theater Complex (Cinema, Club V Bar, Brotherz Gameroom, and Mile Long Parking Lot), formerly known as Louie's THX Theater. Timed for the opening day of Star Trek: Nemesis, the 10th film in the most durable Sci-Fi franchise of all time, New Worlds is a convention, eyeball event, movie screening, and collector?s fair all rolled into one mega-affair.

- We recommend that each contestant pre-register via e-mail. Pre-registration is not required, however, it will enable the contestant to confirm that his/her/their costume entry is qualified for the contest. It will also give the judges time to do research on any obscure characters on
which a costume entry may be based.

- All participants, whether pre-registered or not, must register on the day of the Convention itself, 12 March 2003. Registration will be from 3.00 pm
to 6.30 pm, at the registration booth.

- Each participant must fill out the registration form and sign the waiver
that indicates that neither the event organizer nor its partners/sponsors/attendees are responsible for any injury the contestant incurs during the Convention. Copies of the registration form and waiver will be available at the registration booth.

- All costumes, including props, will be inspected by the registration committee to make sure that they conform to the rules of the contest. Only when the registration committee is satisfied will the contestant's
registration be accepted.

Basic requirements

- To qualify, a costume must be based on live-action science fiction or fantasy TV shows or movies. These include, but are not limited to, Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, X-Files, Matrix, Matrix, Dune, Andromeda, Earth: The Final Conflict,
Farscape, Babylon 5, Roswell, Charmed. PSFFC reserves the sole right to decide whether a TV show or movie a costume is based on qualifies as live-action science fiction or fantasy.

- A contestant may be a person or a group of persons, depending on how many are required to wear/model the costume entry. For instance, one person may join wearing a "Lord of the Rings" Elf costume, while three persons may enter a "Star Wars" Jabba the Hutt costume if it requires three people to wear it simultaneously. If a group wins the contest, the prize will be given to the group, to be divided (or not) according to its members' discretion.

- Deadly weapons are not allowed as props or parts of a costume. This means that all weapons must be harmless replicas of the actual thing.

- Contestants below the age of 18 will be required to submit a signed note from a parent or legal guardian, stating that he or she is allowed to join the contest.

Presentation

- The costume contest will be held on the day of the First Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, March 12, 2003, at the Mile Long Complex, Makati City.

- Each contestant will present itself to the audience in a short Costume Show, where he/she/they will be given a minute to parade his/her/their costume, and even say a line or two.

- After the Costume Show, each contestant will appear before the contest's panel of judges for a final look-over. Each judge may ask questions as to how the costume was created or where it originated, and may also request the contestant to show the costume from particular angles.

- The Costume Show and final look-over will be from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Any contestant that does not show up for, or does not follow instructions (from the costume contest committee or judges) on how to
conduct themselves in either of these events may be immediately disqualified from the contest. Contestants who do not answer truthfully to any of the judges' queries may also be disqualified from the contest.

Judging & Awarding

- The contest winner will be determined by a panel of judges chosen by the PSFFC organizing committee. The panel's decision will be final.

- The criteria for judging is as follows:
Accuracy (40%) = faithfulness to the original character, attention to detail
Presentation (40%) = character interpretation, attitude, mannerism, accent
Audience impact (20%) = ability to attract and hold the audience's attention and interest

- There will be one grand prize winner, who shall receive a custom-made trophy and a cash prize of